ABOUT THIS ALBUM

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Jeux d’eau is a piece for solo piano by Maurice Ravel. The title is often translated as “Fountains”, “Water Games”, or “Playing water” (see Jeux d'eau, water features in gardens). At the time of writing Jeux d'eau, Ravel was a student of Gabriel Fauré, to whom the piece is dedicated. Pianist Ricardo Viñes was the first to publicly perform the work in 1902. The piece was inspired by Franz Liszt's piece Les jeux d'eau à la Villa d'Este (from the 3ème année of his Années de pèlerinage), and Ravel explained its origins in this way: "Jeux d'eau, appearing in 1901, is at the origin of the pianistic novelties which one would notice in my work. This piece, inspired by the noise of water and by the musical sounds which make one hear the sprays water, the cascades, and the brooks, is based on two motives in the manner of the movement of a sonata—without, however, subjecting itself to the classical tonal plan."

Written on the manuscript by Ravel, and often included on published editions, is the text "Dieu fluvial riant de l'eau qui le chatouille..." a quote from Henri de Régnier's Cité des eaux, which in English editions is sometimes translated to "River god laughing as the water tickles him...".

Romanian Folk Dances, Sz. 56, BB 68 (Hungarian: Román népi táncok) is a suite of six short piano pieces composed by Béla Bartók in 1915. He later orchestrated it for small ensemble in 1917.

It is based on seven Romanian tunes from Transylvania, originally played on fiddle or shepherd's flute. The original name for the piece was titled Romanian Folk Dances from Hungary but was later changed by Bartók when Transylvania was annexed to Romania in 1918. It is nowadays available in the 1971 edition which is written with key signatures although Bartok rarely ever wrote key signatures. This set of dances consists of six movements and, according to the composer, it should take four minutes and three seconds to perform.

I. Bot tánc / Jocul cu bâtă (Stick Dance)II. Brâul (Sash Dance)III. Topogó / Pe loc (In One Spot)IV. Bucsumí tánc / Buciumeana (Dance from Bucsum)V. Román polka / Poarga Românească (Romanian Polka)VI. Aprózó / Mărunțel (Fast Dance)The melody of the first movements, according to Bartók, came from Mezőszabad, in the Maros-Torda (now Mureș County) section of Transylvania, and he first heard it when two gypsy violinist were playing it. The second movement is a typical dance from Romania called Brâul, for which traditionally a sash or a waistband was used. This melody came from Igriș, in the Banat region. The third dance comes also from Igriş, but its theme is much darker and its melody recreates Middle Eastern instruments, such as the flute. The fourth dance came from Bucium, in the district of Torda-Aranyos (today Alba county in Romania). The fifth dance is an old Romanian dance similar to the Polka and comes from Belényes, today Beiuş, in Bihor county near the border between Hungary and Romania. The sixth and last dance is formed by two different melodies: the first one comes from Belényes (called Beiuș in Romanian) and the second one comes from Nyagra (from the commune of Lunca Bradului). Both on the orchestral version and on the original piano version, these two dances are performed without a discernible pause.

Max Schubel (born April 11, 1932 - died February 10, 2010) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is best known for being the founder and owner of Opus One records, a company dedicated to the recording of new music. Klish Klash for Prepared Piano was composed for Yolanda Liepa / Klappert who performed and recorded frequently for Opus One records in the 1980s, especially the works of Frank Martin.